Carburetor heater



E. G. WATROUS.

CARBURETOR HEATER.

APPL'lcATloN FILED MAR.|7,1919.

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[HUI- UNITED STATES EARL G. IVATROUS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CARBURETOR HEATER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Y v Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

Application filed March 17, 1919. Serial No. 283,197.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, EARL G. IVA'rnoUs, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of.Cock and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovementsin Carburetor Heaters, of which the following is aspecification.

The necessity or desirability rof raising the temperature of thegasoline or fuel used for internal combustion engines during coldweather is well understood. The present nvention relates to a Vdevice orapparatus,

' whereby the fuel may be heated in the carburetor in a particularlydirect and effective manner hy means of current from the storagebatteries such as `are commonly used in connection with automobiles andother power plants.

The object of this invention is to provide an electric heaterrforheating the fuel in a carburetor in a direct manner so as to avoid allpossible loss of heat units; to provide an electric heater forcarburetors, which is of simple construction and which may be readilyapplied; and in general to provide such an improved heater as will bedescribed more fully hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating this invention: v

Fig. 1 is aside view of a carburetor with part-s broken away to show theinterior construction and with the heater applied thereto, parts beingalso shown diagrammatically; Y

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side View showing a modified form of heater; and,

Fig. l is a plan view of the device shown in Fig. 3.

This invention is particularly adapted to be used in connection withmotor vehicles, such vehicles now being commonly supplied with storagebatteries for the starting and lighting systems. These batteries howeverare of somewhatV limited capacity and it is not practical to use aconsiderable amount ofcurrent therefrom for the purpose of heating` thegasoline. I have found that the gasoline may be heated with the smallestamount of loss of heat units, by immersing the electric heating elementdirectly in the liquid and I utilize this in my improved heater. Thisarrangement is Vparticularly useful for heating the `gasoline duringcold weather in order that the engine will start readily, and I havefound that the gasoline may be heated to a sufhciently high temperaturefor this purpose in a comparatively few seconds and without undue drainon the battery. Y

As shown in the drawings, 5 indicates the bowl of the carburetor whichmay be of any ordinary or preferred form of construction. Thiscarburetor is provided with the usual oat 6 and needle valveY 7 havin@ avalve' seat 8. One endv 9 of the heating element 10 is wound around orsecured to the valve seat 8A so as to provide a contact or electricconnection. The other end 11 is secured to a bolt 12 which extends downthrough a hole 13 in the bottom of the bowl 5. The bolt is insulatedfrom the bowl by means of insulation 141-. The heating element 10preferably comprises a wire formed of suitable resisting material suchVas German silver or other composition. This element is insulated fromthe bowl by means of an insulating disk 15, formed of mica or othersuitable material.

The bolt 12 is connected by a wire 16 with one terminal of the battery17. The other terminal is grounded by means of a wire 18 connected tothe supply pipe 19 or other suitable place for grounding. A switch 20 isprovided at anyv convenient point for opening and closing the circuit.Then this switch is closed, the current passes vfrom the battery throughthe wire 16 and bolt 12 to the heating element 10 and then to'ground orback to the battery. The heating element becomes quickly heated and willheat the fuel in the bowl very rapidly as the fuel is directly exposedto the wire and is free to circulate around the heating element whichpreferably covers a considerable area of the bottom. It will also benoted that this attachment may be applied to the carburetor withoutchanging the same, other than by providing a hole for the bolt 12.

In some instances it may be desired to install the heater without makinga hole through the bowl and in some instances it is desirable to providea complete circuit for the heater instead of grounding one terminal ofthe same. The arrangement shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is adapted to fulfillthese conditions. In this inst-ance, a disk 21 of insulating material isprovided to set in the bottom of the bowl. Insulated wires 22 and 23 aresecured to the disk by means of fasteners 24 and have upwardly extendingbranches 25 `and 26 which may pass up through a Suitable opening in thecover of the carburetor.` llhese wires are covered with insulatingmaterial .which will not be affected by VtheV gasoline. The heatingelement 27 is connected tothe ends ofthe wires V22 and 23 as shown inFig. t. The upper branches of the wires are connected to the batteryin'any well known manner, so that neither .terminal of the heatingelementis grounded. The operation of this form is of coursesubstantially the saine as that just described.

It Willbe seen from this description, that provide an electric heaterwhich may be readily installed and which will be particularly efficientinV operation, `but it will be noted that changes may be made in orderto adapt the same to other forms of carburetors and therefore I do notwish to be limited to the exact construction herein shownand de*scribed.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters `Patent is:

1.1 An electric heater for carburetors, cemprising a heating elementformed of a single bare wire adapted to be inserted in the fuel in thecarburetor bowl, means for insulating the wire from the bowl, conductorspermanently `connectedto the ends of the heating element within thebowl, and means l for supplying current to the conductors.

2. A heater for carburetors, Acomprising a plate of insulating material,two insulatedY .wires connected Vto said piate and having upwardlyextending ranches, a heating'- eleranged in thecarburetor below the fuellevel,

means for insulating the resistance element freni the carbureter, andinsulated conductor wires connected to the resistance element andpassing out of the carburetor at a point above the fuel level.

5. A heater attachment for carburetors, comprising a disc 'of insulatingmaterial adaptedto irit freely in the bowl of the Vcarburetor, -aheating element secured to saidV disc, insulated wires connected withtheends of said element and also secured to said dise, said wires beingadapted to project upwardly beyond the fuel level in the carburetor whenbowl. I

' EARL e. WArRoU's. `1

